The Ouroboros Catapracht is a secret order of Priests of Mars, seeking old truths and knowledge. Appearance of massive space hulk The Primogenitor has caught their Forgemasters’ eye and the Catapracht has been sent to raid and retrieve any and all data and machine that supports the thesis of sovereignity of the Red Planet.

The so called and often shunned schism, the religious divide in Mechanicus’ creed has two sides. The ruling truth of The Emperor being also the source of all machine spirit, and the old belief of singular Omnissiah. Retrieval of authentic proof of such singularity would force The Mechanicus into a civil war within itself and the Imperium as a whole.

The Catapracht and its warriors, raider-adepts and tech-archeo engines are deployed when a chance to retrieve such information presents itself. Elite among the augmented skitarii caste are the Protectors. The Protectorii Destructors are armed with a myriad of plasma weaponry to wreak havoc and ultimate destruction in their missions. The venture is led by one of the senior adepts, also armed to the teeth.

The calcatrix symbol – cockatrice in low gothic – of their order represents the lost suverenity of the martian priesthood. A two-legged dragon with an eagle’s head: The great serpent sleeping under the wastelands of the Red Planet, free from the ever stalling and stagnating Imperium.

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My second force for the upcoming Primogenitor campaign is here! I have always wanted to build Mechanicus models that represent the Skitarii as fearsome augmetic-ridden vat-muscled brutes and finally figured out how to do it. I started with thinking about all the recent great GW’s releases that I haven’t used for some reasons.

Firstly, the stormcast eternals have always been a little too neat and identical to each other to be used as a group. They have the sort of manufactured feeling to them, which, obviously fits Mechanicus like a glove. They are also sufficiently large to represent augmented humans. Secondly, even though I absolutely adore all the fantastic Primaris marine releases I have found them lacking in certain ways that speak as Astartes for me. They are quite techy in most places, having those grav-tanks, jump-packs, and bulky power suits, and lack the true gothicness I want my space marines (like Imperial Fists) to have.

For the colour palette I went with complete opposite than my Imperial Guard. Super colourful, deep accented reds, eerie blue/green on the bases and shadows topped with warm fluo green on symbols and light sources. I want these to look like the 8th rulebook artwork and the illustrations of Blackstone Fortress and their adventurers for that space hulk tech-raider feeling. Looking forward to take the reds and greens into new directions with upcoming models. Oh these to be varnished still, hence the occasional shiny parts in pics.

Centering around these two lines I’m building a fully converted Adeptus Mechanicus army using Iron Hands rules. The finished models are a Lietenaunt with bolt rifle and Hellblaster squad. Next up is another HQ unit built around Feirros and some tech-assassins based on Eliminator kit. I also have a Repulsor Executioner waiting on the line. I’m setting up a little challenge for myself to finish a small Spearhead detachment of 750 points army by the beginning of December.